Being out of town, and having our meetings with Elder Ballard this weekend, I have been swamped.  So, I totally forgot to post a link to Karlene's (aka Inksplasher) review of The Road Show.  Karlene had some interesting things to say, and I appreciate her insights.  I'm especially grateful for her working me in since she's in the middle of a big Eclipse countdown! Thanks, Karlene.  Go check her out here.

NOTE: I'm on the road on a Church youth trip.  So, my posting might be a bit sporadic.  For example, I'm posting this on Wednesday night even though it's supposed to be Tuesday.  Can you just pretend?  Also, I won't be commenting on any blogs this week since my computer access is limited.

Jenna over at Cranberry Corner has a wide-ranging and interesting blog.  You can read about her garden, which is beautiful enough to make me seriously envious, her busy life, or her growing family.  You can read book reviews, lovingly-written travelogues, or narratives about wrenching, life changing personal episodes.  It's an enjoyable eclectic blog and I'm always happy when I see a new post show up in Google reader. 

I'm really happy that Jenna agreed to review my book.  Go over and check her out.

I know, I've used a lot of exclamation marks this week.  It's been kind of exciting--first reviews, Sherrie's song.  And then today, I finally go the book trailer done.  It's posted on YouTube.  I'd love it if you'd stop by and take a peak.  All marketing-schmoozing aside, I really do think that the song Sherrie wrote and Veronica sang is worth a few clicks over. 
Very powerful.

I'll embed it here at some point (meaning as soon as I figure out how!).

Thanks for stopping by!

If you haven't yet, go see the video! If you like it, tell your friends to go see it.

This was kind of a busy weekend.  Lots of drama.  One of the most painful parts of my job, the thing about it that I hate, is casting the play.  It is brutally hard for me to have to disappoint so many children, all of whom are anxiously harboring hopes that they will get "THE role."  

It is hard to begin with and compounded by the fact that I have been an actor, so I know how much it hurts. I don't enjoy knowing I am hurting them.

Yes, it's a good life lesson, yes, it's something they need to learn, yes to all of those things.  It's still hard.  And I don't like it.

It was far more difficult than usual this time around.  Call-backs for Fiddler on the Roof were Friday.  Call-backs are sort of like the whole season of American Idol crammed into one long afternoon/evening.  At the end, there are two or three finalists left.  Then, I excuse them and go home and make my decisions.

I've done this for over 20 years, so the actual deciding is not usually that hard--it's generally very clear who is best suited for the roles. 

This year the finalists for one of the leads were my daughter and one of her close friends. 

I wanted my daughter to get the part.  I hoped she would get the part.  But she had to earn it on her own merits.  I treated her fairly--she had no disadvantage or advantage.  If she had been best for the role, I would have cast her and not blinked. 

But she wasn't.  She is good--very talented and promising.  But she just didn't fit this particular role as well as her friend.

Ouch.

Saturday was a bit rough at our house.  But good in the longish view.  These kind of lessons are very important.  I felt sorry and sad to see my daughter struggling--it hurt more than I can describe.  But I knew it was necessary for her to have this kind of experience.  I love her but allowed her to have a difficult, heart-wrenching experience. I think I learned a little more about the nature of God.

So that was my weekend.  And Sunday was crazy busy as well. 

The good news is that Sherrie recorded our song on Friday.  So, that will be available soon.  I'm so excited about that.  She is very talented and you will definitely want to hear this song.  There will be a short version on the book trailer and think I'll post a short clip here and then, if you are interested, you can download it or order a cd.

Sherrie was a hero because we found out at the last minute that we couldn't use elements of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives," which she had masterfully woven into the accompaniment.  So, with 48 hours to record, she had to rewrite it.  Thanks, Sherrie. 

Well, for someone who aspires to be a writer, I don’t know what to say.  My heart is very full.  Friday afternoon, my editor sent me the PDF version of the proofs.  My book is going to press on Monday! 

I’ve spent the last 24 hours going over them looking for errors and making notes.  At this point, the changes are limited only to correcting grammatical or punctuation errors, correcting any cut-and-paste mistakes and so on.  The chances for revising and improving and tweaking are long gone.  I’m having thoughts about the Final Judgment, which I will write about another time.

This is very a fraught moment for me.  The first time I read a set of proofs a few weeks ago, I reacted a little like you do when you hear your voice recorded and you think, “Ugh—do I really sound like that?”

Having gone through it this last time, I find I like it much better.  There are places I wish I could still tweak a bit, some possibly obnoxious use of adverbs, a more felicitious way to phrase something—but on the whole, I like this book. 

Last time I read it, I was looking at it very clinically.  This time I was drawn in again to the characters and their struggles and I remembered how much I love them.  I know that sounds kind of silly, but I really do. 

Now, it’s a lot of waiting.  I’m told the cover will be finished soon and I am keenly and anxiously excited to see that.  June 1st is seeming so far away.

Thanks to everyone for the support and encouragement.  I have been so grateful for your comments and emails.  And, not just the comments.  All of you that come by to my blog each week, thank you!  Simply seeing you show up in the traffic report makes me feel good.

Remember--Amazon is offering a 33% discount on the book right now.